ToneMonkey Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Alrighty gents, It's one of those thikngs that's been keeping me up at night, so thought I'd ask you lot. One day, when I get round to building a new acoustic I've been thinking about whether it's possible to put an arm contor on like a strat. As far as I know it's not been done (probably for a good reason). My acoustic is a super jumbo (one of these fat boys http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/product...mp;view=search) and I love the shape but it's a right bugger to play for any period of time as it's just so bloody big. I'd need slightly larger sides to accomodate the contor and would need to trim it all down level after I've bent it, but in theory, do you think the wood would be able to handle it? I also know that binding would be an issue, but I once saw an acoustic with no binding on it and it looked really good, so that's that issue out of the way. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Alrighty gents, It's one of those thikngs that's been keeping me up at night, so thought I'd ask you lot. One day, when I get round to building a new acoustic I've been thinking about whether it's possible to put an arm contor on like a strat. As far as I know it's not been done (probably for a good reason). My acoustic is a super jumbo (one of these fat boys http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/product...mp;view=search) and I love the shape but it's a right bugger to play for any period of time as it's just so bloody big. I'd need slightly larger sides to accomodate the contor and would need to trim it all down level after I've bent it, but in theory, do you think the wood would be able to handle it? I also know that binding would be an issue, but I once saw an acoustic with no binding on it and it looked really good, so that's that issue out of the way. Cheers I have thought about this before but I have never seen or heard of it being done. I think you could get round the binding problem by having a seperate binding section for the contour and making some kind of angled binding router jig. It would be the bracing that would be a bit more difficult I would look forward to seeing this done and it would make an acoustic a huge amount more comfortable to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 I do think that has been done - but I can't put my finger on who it was that's done it. By bending the spruce (or whatever) top, you will have to shape braces underneath accordingly, and it will certainly affect the response of the top to the strings. But like anything on an acoustic, I'm sure it can be tuned to get the most out of it soundwise. Lots of guys do what's called an "armrest bevel" - search Google images - basically a shaped bit of wood underneath the top, and against the sides, to knock down the edge where your forearm sits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToneMonkey Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 mmmm, interesting. I was thinking of bending the side and didn't really think about bending the top instead. I was hoping to have as little effect on the top as possible so all bending the sides would do is make the top a bit smaller on one side, the rim of the top would still be flat. Maybe time to get the scetchpad out. Got a few other ideas to have a look at too (but a lot less drastic) so maybe this sholod go on my project list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 There's some whacked-out twisted 'ergonomic' acosutic guitar (look for Robert Izzardy's Building the Ergonomic Guitar blog, I'm sure there's a link there) that helps in this regard. The more 'common' solution to bulk is either a wedge guitar a la Linda Mazner (just google), or an armrest a la Grit Laskin or Kevin Ryan (Ryan Guitars), or even a combination of both. I think stressing the top wood will affect the sound. Whether positively or negatively, I can't comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 There are several side bending videos on YouTube, although your mileage may vary on how good they are in terms of quality advice. Perhaps you might want to seek a couple out, and the more experienced people in that field could comment on them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 ....a la Linda Mazner (just google).... http://www.manzer.com/guitars/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDub Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 go over to the OLF and search for armrest. There's a few guys there that do alot of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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